NEW RELEASE
What Women Want - Fanny Blake (2011)
Bea, Kate and Ellen are women who know what they want, only they realise they can't always get it. Bea wants a man, and to keep her job in publishing. Kate wants her marriage to work and Ellen wants her family to accept her new lover. Only as the three women grapple with what they need, or at least what they think they need, their friendship is put to the test. The novel follows the three women as they learn to adjust to divorce, teenagers and empty nest syndrome. With a few mysteries and secrets to unravel, it's a nice, easy read. (AB)
In Fanny Blake's What Women Want, three friends try to decide what they want - and come to realise what they really need. The summary says: "Bea, Kate and Ellen have always known that they can depend on each other, no matter what. But as each reaches a new phase in their life, their bond is put to the test. Recently divorced Bea's job is in jeopardy as she grapples with a new boss and her power-hungry younger colleagues. At home she has to deal with a stroppy teenage son and the gaping hole left by her ex-husband. Feisty, impulsive and never one to give up, she throws herself back onto the dating scene. Her friends will hold her steady. Stressed-out Kate contends with an empty nest now that her children have left home, a frantic pace at work as a GP and the growing realisation that her marriage has definitely lost its shine. Reliable, hard-working, how can she find the energy to keep going? At least her friends will lift her spirits. Then Ellen, who has devoted herself to her two children and her small art gallery for the last 10 years since her beloved husband died, falls head over heels in love with Oliver. When Oliver forces Ellen to re-evaluate everything about herself and her future, so Bea and Kate are driven further away from their friend and from each other as they react differently to this unfamiliar stranger in their midst." Blake has worked in publishing for years, including acting as ghostwriter for a number of celebrities. What Women Want is her first novel and is out in April.